


when cherry blossom falls, and the warm beginning...

by palalabu



Series: Weathering [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, past lando/carlos, past one sided attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27088246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palalabu/pseuds/palalabu
Summary: “Should I give you his number?” she whispers to Lando. Who raises his eyebrow at her in return. “Lando, I have eyes. You were flirting.”
Relationships: Isa Hernáez/Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris & Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris/Original Character(s)
Series: Weathering [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688791
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	when cherry blossom falls, and the warm beginning...

**Author's Note:**

> This is the continuation of my previous fic ["when the rain stops, let’s meet again"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234215), which was written way before Carlos' announcement to move to Ferrari and I made Lando move to Renault instead (hence the "canon divergence" lol). To avoid any confusion, it's best to read that fic first.

Lando is antsy. He bounces his leg as he watches Renault PR Officer, Aurelie, do the closing for their usual Facebook Live. All that he could think about is that he needs to get out of their hospitality. The love of his life is waiting for him for god sake!

“Bye!” Aurelie, finally, waves to the camera. And Lando bolts away before she could stop him with another obligation he has to attend to. “Two minutes!” she reminds him of the only spare time he has.

“Five!” Lando bargains with a laugh, even though they both know he’d take longer than that. Always. 

Lando rushes outside where he knows Isa has been waiting for him. She doesn't come to races often, but since it’s the last one and they’re going to have an extra few days for testing after, she comes with her whole entourage.

“Princess!” Lando squeals as he kneels in front of the little girl shyly clinging on her mother’s leg. “She still remembers me, right?” he asks Isa. 

“Of course.” She then proceeds to talk to her daughter in Spanish, probably reminding her daughter who Lando is. And the only thing Lando manages to catch is when his name is mentioned. 

“Yes, Tío Lando, Reyes. Leche man!”

“If you keep saying that, she will really think that’s your name.”

“That’s fine. As long as she remembers me.” Lando takes the little girl’s hand once she warms up to him. “I have something for you.”

“Lando,” Isa stares down at him in warning even though Lando is already kneeling before them. “You’re spoiling her with presents.”

“Only one present every time we meet is not spoiling, Isa.” Lando opens his arms for little Reyes. And he’s beaming when the girl finally lets herself be hugged by Lando. “And we never meet often enough, aren’t we, Princess?” Then to her mother he says, “Can you wait inside while I’m getting her present?”

“Inside where?” But Lando doesn't really wait as he walks back to Renault hospitality. “Lando, we’re Mclaren’s guests.”

“You’re family!” Lando insists when he finds Isa is still standing outside.

“Was.” 

“All the same. I’m sure Aurelie loves having you here.” And when he passes Aurelie in their main dining room, he asks her, “Don’t you?”

The blonde woman rolls her eyes at their driver’s antics. After a few years working together she really should’ve gotten used to it. And yet, she still gets the occasional surprises. 

“You’re lucky I love Isa,” she tells him as she welcomes Isa inside.

“Everyone loves Isa!” Lando shouts as he hurries to his driver room upstairs with Reyes still in his arms.

The present he has for her this time needs more preparation to get done and he definitely would have to employ some help. So, it’s a good thing when he sees Daniel’s door is opened. 

Lando knocks and peeks inside at the same time Daniel looks up from his phone. “What’s up, buddy?” the older driver asks. And immediately after he sees who Lando has in his arms, grinning his trademark smile. “Is that Princess? Reyes!” 

“Don't scare her. She kinds of forget about me. I’m sure she doesn't remember you,” Lando says, mostly to assure himself. Because if Reyes remembers Daniel but not him, he’s definitely going to get his heart broken. And he’s not ready for that.

But, of course Daniel is making funny faces and the girl is giggling at him already. Lando is not okay with this.

“Can you just watch her a bit? I need to get her present in my room.”

“Sure.” Daniel takes Reyes from him before Lando could even finish his sentence. And Reyes seems to be perfectly fine with it. 

Lando makes sad noises of jealousy. “Why?” he grumbles. He prefers it if the little girl whines or protests a little bit at least, but still he leaves Daniel’s room to retrieve the present anyway. 

Contrary to the popular belief around in the paddock, Lando never sleeps with Daniel to get over his broken heart, or for any other reason really. Just because Max is a really good friend of his. And the thought of sleeping with his boyfriend is just a big no for Lando. Doesn't matter that the two are in an open relationship and the option was offered. So, maybe Lando is also a conservative after all. 

“Now,” Lando says. Perhaps a bit louder. Just to announce his presence and avert both Daniel and Reyes’ attention to him. “Help me get this on her.” 

As soon as Lando shows Daniel what he has for the girl, his whole body shakes with laughter. “That is brilliant, mate!”

They make a quick work of changing Reyes’ clothes with the black overall Lando has for her. And of course it’s not an easy feat when the girl keeps trying to get away from the two drivers. Lando could only hope they won’t make her cry. 

Daniel suggests that the three of them should take a selfie now that they’re all wearing matching colors. And Lando agrees to it, but is still distracted with zipping up the girl in her overall. 

Then he notices it. Danel is staring at him with a look that Lando doesn't particularly want to delve into. “What?” he reluctantly asks. 

“I don’t know how you do it, to be honest,” the Australian tells him.

“Do what?”

Lando plays dumb. But he knows exactly what Daniel refers to. After all he and Max (and George and Alex and just about half the grid probably) were the ones acting as human barriers around Lando whenever they got the chance during Lando’s first year in Renault. Just to give him a space to be by himself, be himself and a time to heal. Until Lando was ready and told them that he could stand on his own. 

So Daniel’s bemusement on him playing dress up with Carlos’ daughter, Lando could admit, is justified. 

“I’m just saying, you’re tougher than you look like, kiddo.”

Lando wishes Daniel would stop calling him that nickname since he hasn't been a kid for years now. But still he grins and tells him, “Still don't know what you’re talking about.”

Just because he’s okay, it’s still better not to talk about it.

They take a quick selfie and he makes Daniel promise not to upload it anywhere before Reyes’ father sees her. Because it’s supposed to be a surprise. Lando even tries to shield the girl from her mom when he walks back down to the lower level of the hospitality. Just to prolong the curiosity and shorten the shock.

Because Isa definitely is shocked when Lando returns her daughter to her.

“I can’t bring her back like this, Lando!” she protests. Once she can speak again that is. 

“Of course you can.” Lando tries to assure her. “Everyone at McLaren can take a joke. You know that.” Aurelie is laughing next to him, begging Isa to please share a photo or a video of when she arrives at the hospitality. “Yeah, I also need to post that I think,” Lando agrees.

“You two are the worst.”

“Isa, it’d be a good Instagram banter between our teams,” Aurelie chimes in to convince her. 

“Only if Carlos and everyone at McLaren agrees.”

“Of course,” the two Renault members say in unison like little devils that they are. 

“By the way,” Lando adds, “I also have another one for her brother.”

**###**

****

Lando flips his phone face down on the table with a grin. Just in time for Aurelie to bring a horde of local journalists he has to talk to. 

The interview goes on as usual, with the same questions he usually receives at the end of each year. “How do you sum up your year?” “What are your key takeaways from this season?” “How do you prepare for next year?” And after years answering these questions, Lando’s brain switches to auto mode for a bit. 

That is until the interview ends and he shakes hand with everyone before they’re leaving the room. But there’s that last reporter who lingers a bit while packing his stuff. He looks younger than the others, Lando finally notices. 

He stops to talk as he offers his hand to Lando. He says Lando had made incredible improvement the whole year. Lando watches him combing his dark lush hair with his fingers. He tells Lando to not put himself down too much. His eyes are a beautiful shade of brown. He tries to convince Lando not to listen to the critics too much. 

Lando smiles and tells him, “You should’ve been in the first race. Would’ve been good for my ego throughout this season.”

“Well, you know where to find me if you ever need an ego boost,” he replies, with what may or may not be a wink.

Aurelie is leaning closer to him as they both watch the young journalist leaving their hospitality. “Should I give you his number?” she whispers to Lando. Who raises his eyebrow at her in return. “Lando, I have eyes. You were flirting.”

“Please. I’m a professional.”

“You’re at least interested.”

“I am not mixing work and pleasure.”

“He’s cute. I give you that,” Aurelie says, ignoring Lando’s excuses completely. 

And Lando sighs. The fact is he hasn't been ready to meet anyone after his Major Heartbreak **™** \-- which everyone in the paddock somehow seems to know about. It’s not even that he’s still mending his heart, because he’s definitely healed. It’s been years after all. But he just has other things on his plate that he has to deal with. Moving to another team, keep climbing up the ladder in the championship. And love just hasn't been one of the things that come across his mind. 

“Look.” Aurelie’s whisper somehow becomes even more conspiratorially. “I will send his number to you anyway. We both can pretend you don't ask for it. And I won’t ask you about him anymore. Deal?”

But perhaps he should make some space for love on the proverbial plate. 

“Sent,” Aurelie tells him, followed by a quiet beep on his phone. “Do what you want with it,” she says. Although Lando honestly still doesn't have any idea what he wants to do with it. 

What he has, however, is a few days in the city. And that's a few lunches and dinners he’s available for. So... 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> from what i've learned, after cherry blossoms fall, spring ends, and summer is near. So what i hope to convey is that even though something that's painfully beautiful has ended, another warm thing will come. And I wasn't even gonna write a second part for the first fic. But I kinda like that idea that lando is doing well and may or may not want to start a relationship with someone. i leave it to you whether he'll actually start it or not tho 😁  
> also, please give me ideas on how to tag this fic lol. apparently past crush or past one sided attraction is not a real tag lol


End file.
